COVER CROPS 87 



cases where the crop has been started relatively 

 early under trees bearing a load of fruit. If it be- 

 gins to make a vigorous growth at the time when 

 the fruit is swelling and ripening, and especially if 

 the weather proves to be dry, the amount of mois- 

 ture taken from the ground by it is necessarily 

 stolen from the peach trees to the very great detri- 

 ment of the fruit. In cases of extreme drouth, when 

 it is plain that the cover crop exercises this malefi- 

 cent influence, it will be a good practice to check 

 the growth of the cover crop by running over it with 

 a roller or even with a mower. It is customary, in- 

 deed, in apple orchards to mow such cover crops as 

 buckwheat just before the picking begins, though 

 this is usually for a somewhat different purpose. 



THE VARIOUS CROPS 



In view of the fact that the leguminous crops col- 

 lect nitrogen from the air, they are always to be 

 chosen when possible. It is a fact, of course, that 

 certain non-leguminous crops have especial advan- 

 tages and may be the best in certain emergencies. 

 Doubtless buckwheat is the most common exception 

 because it possesses advantages of germinating 

 rapidly late in the summer in dry soils, and is espe- 

 cially valuable in breaking up rough soils before 

 they are in a good state of cultivation. The clover 

 crops in particular cannot be successfully used until 

 the land is in a thoroughly good state of tillage. 

 The following are the most important cover crops 

 for use in peach orchards : 



I. Cowpeas are used more than any other crop in 

 southern latitudes and are unquestionably the one 

 best crop. They are adapted to nearly all soils, 

 though they are especially at home on light land. 



